A couple of tasty lunches

In the spirit of trying to stick to my New Years Resolutions I have been trying to make more nutritious lunches recently.  Our usual meal would consist of toast in some form topped with either scrambled egg, baked beans or grilled cheese, so I am really being very adventurous with these dishes.
First I did homemade hummus on homemade bread (always) topped with roasted red peppers and Greek feta cheese:

 

Then a tomato salad (not very seasonal I know) with the same hummus and feta cheese and some homemade tortillas drizzled with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a sprinkling of pepper and dried parsley. Yum!

Both very delicious, and both making me feel ever so slightly pleased with myself, the hummus is really easy to make and so are the tortillas.  I really don't mind taking the time to make these sorts of things from scratch, I just really hate the washing up!

Hummus is:

400g tin of chickpeas,
2 garlic cloves,
Juice of a lemon,
2 tbsp tahini,
3 tbsp olive oil,
A pinch of paprika.

Whizz up in a blender

(Recipe is from the Baby Led Weaning Cookbook by Gill Rapley)

Tortillas are:

300g plain flour,
60g butter,
175ml warm water,

Kneed together then roll out and fry on a hot dry frying pan.

(recipe adapted from step-by-step vegetarian by Rosemary Wadey etc.)

New Years Resolutions

I didn't make any New Years resolutions last year, I knew with a new baby on the way I would have enough challenges to face in 2012.  As we begin a new year, I have to say I am really glad that I didn't make any resolutions, but now I am feeling ready to make some changes in my life for the better, I have got lazy over the last year, lazy with eating, drinking, reading, TV watching and surfing the net, I want to clean up these areas of my life a bit and make my life more like I want it to be.  Also it's not just about me this year, it is me and Orren and our family generally.  So after much thought and editing, here is my list of New Years Resolutions.

I often wish that we didn't have a TV, I envy others who are able to go without watching it at all.  I want the space in my head and life, I also don't want Orren watching the TV and he has been recently, which is totally against my philosophy and I can't even believe I have allowed it, so my first resolution is no TV during the day, the TV only goes on in the evening.   I know this is going to be hard for me because I do enjoy watching the TV while eating my breakfast and lunch, and when breastfeeding, but I really want this change in my and Orren's life. If any one has any tips on giving up TV I would love to hear them.

Having a baby changed me, no doubt about it, mostly it made me a stronger more passionate, empathetic person, but there have also been some negative changes.  I am far more insecure than I ever was and find myself feeling bad about so many things and worrying about upsetting people, getting upset about being left out and worrying that everyone else is having more fun than me. One of the causes of me feeling bad is b**dy Facebook.  Seriously, I hate the thing, and yet I don't seem to be able to stop myself going on a seeing what everyone else is up to.  The result, "X, Y and Z seem to be so happy and having so much fun, my life is s**t".  So, my next resolution is not to avoid Facebook altogether but to only go on to add photos for my family a friends to see and to arrange get togethers with friends and groups etc.  No more scrolling through other people's activities and making myself feel bad, Facebook doesn't control me, I control it, I will use it only on my own terms.

This year we have been pretty lazy when it comes to food, not planning in advance and eating a lot from the freezer. I can forgive myself this since we were getting to grips with a new baby, but I think now is the time to improve our diet, not just for our sake but because Orren now joins us for three meals a day and I want him to develop healthy eating habits. I also think making more food from scratch is beneficial in terms of self-sufficient, it will also challenge me to think more and be more creative with meals.  So basically this resolution is about avoiding processed food, planning all our meals much more carefully and being more creative with what we are eating (i.e. not just variations of beans on toast for lunch every day).  To add to this I also want to dramatically reduce the amount of sugar I am eating.  I usually have a tablespoon of golden syrup on my porridge every day and I think it is making me feel bad, itchy and runny nose bad.  Oh and caffeine.  I should probably try to reduce the amount of that I have too.  Green tea from now on. The ultimate aim of all these diet changes is that I will be able to get back to the weight I was at my wedding, and I will be able to stop taking anti-histamines for allergies and using steroid creams for my skin.  I also want to make more of my own natural remedies and home remedies for minor ailments.

Although I am planning on not watching TV during the day, I do enjoy some down time in the evening where I can stop thinking and zone out for a bit, however I do feel like this is wasted time, especially as this is the only time during the day that I get alone without a small child to look after (who by the way is into everything), so my next resolution is to do a craft project in the evenings while I am watching TV.  To help me with this resolution I am going to get the craft activity ready during the day because if I leave it till the evening then it's too late to get craft supplies out of the cupboard in the bedroom next to the cot where Orren sleeps.

Two years ago I started reading "The Bible in a year"  This year I will finish it!

On top of theses main resolutions I have a little list of other changes I want to make:

Do you make New Years Reolutions?  What are they this year?

Review of 2011

Last year I made some new years resolutions, so though I would now take the opportunity to see which ones I achieved, which ones I nearly achieved and which ones I didn't achieve (and why)  So these were my resolutions for 2011:

1. Read the Bible in a year - I have very nearly done this, I am about two months behind and am proud of that alone, I have never got this far through the Bible before.  I have found the process of reading it very useful, though I have to confess often I am just reading the words and I feel they are not really sinking in, however the odd verse jumps out at me and speaks to me on a really personal level.  My aim now is to read the rest before the baby arrives!

courtesy of weheartit

2. Buy nothing new for a year - Although I did of course buy new things this year, I think I was much more thoughtful when making purchases, I did consider if I could make things or get them second hand and have come to the conclusion that if there is something out there that I really really want (but can't afford), then I can get it one way or another, either I buy something similar second hand or make it myself.

Vintage map bunting for sale in the craft shop

3. Exercise at least 3 time a week - for a long time I was cycling to work every day, but since I fell pregnant I have been too frightened to cycle in case I fall off or hurt myself on the handle bars, so I have stuck with walking; walking to the shops when I can and going for long woodland walks at weekends.

Me on one of our many woodland walks,

4. Eat more healthily - I started the year eating very healthily but in the spring I started medication for Poly-cystic ovarian syndrome which made me feel very sick, then I fell pregnant and felt even more sick to the point where vegetables made me gag (I can't think why my body didn't want me to eat veg but I couldn't) however I did keep eating lots of fruit so don't feel too bad about not being super healthy.

Courtesy of weheartit.com

5. Finish my wedding scrapbook - hmmm still not finished, or even close!

Unfinished wedding scrapbook,

6. Grow more veg - I struggled with this because I had a very difficult start to my pregnancy and as a result wasn't able to work the allotment...AND I got an eviction letter :(  On the bright side I am now sharing the allotment with a friend so hopefully it will be more manageable in 2012, I can't wait to spend time there with my child, showing him or her the wonders of nature,

Courtesy of weheartit.com

7. Make £400 per month of crafts, photography etc - Didn't manage £400 per month, but I was pleased with what I achieved in 2011 in terms of independent money making.  I am going to carry on with my Etsy craft shop, although I have closed the art shop because it wasn't as successful as I had hoped.  I am on maternity leave from photography now, but will start again in late March/April.  Having said that I am definitely happier with the craft side of things than the photography, and am going to work on this more in 2012,

32 sales yippy!

8. Pay off overdraft -  I did this!!  Purely on saving and spending less, so very pleased with myself,

Courtesy of weheartit.com

9. Watch less TV - I did this and re-read "Remotely controlled" to motivate me further, I am going to continue watching less TV and hope that when our baby comes I will be far to busy!  Really don't want to look back on my life and have wasted 12 years watching TV (The average amount British people watch TV in their lifetime!)

Courtesy of weheartit.com

10.  Have 100 followers on the blog - I have 106 lovely lovely followers, I have love for you all, I love your comments, thankyou thankyou for following my blog.

My fabulous followers!

As for 2012, I am not making New Years resolutions but I do have many hopes for my life with my husband and our new baby which I am sure I will share with you as time goes by.  I am really looking forward to 2012.

(Photos are mine unless linked to weheartit.com)